Just a year after the Suns vanquished the San Antonio monster in the playoffs, the Spurs are back to ending the season for the Suns.

San Antonio Spurs is the West’s top team and haven’t yet lost 20 games on the season. They’re still fighting the Bulls for the #1 overall seed but look to be in good shape of at least earning a tie with them for the top spot where tie breakers would determine who has home court should they meet each other in the Finals.

Recently, the Spurs have bounced back from their 6 game skids to win 4 consecutive games and look to be primed for the playoffs. They’re a veteran team with no real injuries on their roster and have experience in navigating a tough playoff field. At this point in the season, they’re where everyone else wants to be. They’ve earned it, so kudos to them.

The Suns closed the Spurs’ season last year with a second-round sweep that was as sweet as cane sugar for Phoenix, given four arduous playoff exits to the black and silver dating to 2003.

Having wrapped up the top seeding in the Western Conference, the Spurs are 1 1/2 games ahead of Eastern Conference leaders Chicago, with the Bulls having three games left to play.

San Antonio seized control of a close first half with a 15-2 run that straddled half-time, and held off a surge by the Jazz early in the fourth that saw the Spurs’ lead narrowed to 91-85.

Richard Jefferson, pictured, scored 20 points and Tony Parker had 13 as the Spurs’ starters saw limited action after opening up a large lead.

The Spurs bench provided 44 points, led by Tiago Splitter’s 13, as San Antonio cruised to their fourth win in a row.

Al Jefferson led the Jazz with 23 points.

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The San Antonio Spurs ended their longest losing streak in 14 years with a convincing win over a banged-up team that’s out of playoff contention.

Building on that victory and earning the top overall seed for the playoffs might not be as easy.

In a game that could have major playoff implications, the Spurs look to end their road struggles against Eastern Conference playoff teams when they face the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night.

San Antonio (58-19) defeated a Phoenix club that was missing Steve Nash(notes) 114-97 on Sunday to snap a six-game losing streak, the franchise’s longest since the 1996-97 season.

George Hill(notes) led the way with 29 points and the West-leading Spurs moved 2 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Los Angeles Lakers, who lost later Sunday. That lead was seven games following San Antonio’s previous win March 21.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence, and hopefully we can finish in first place,” said guard Tony Parker(notes), who missed nine of 11 shots and scored seven points.

While the Spurs managed to pad their lead over the Lakers, they’re just 1 1/2 games ahead of East-leading Chicago for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

If the Spurs and Bulls finish with the same record, home court would go to the team with the better mark against the opposing conference because the clubs split their season series. San Antonio and Chicago are both 22-7 against the opposing conference, and each plays their final interconference game Tuesday, with the Bulls hosting the slumping Suns.

San Antonio beat Atlanta 108-92 on Dec. 10, its eighth victory in nine meetings. Richard Jefferson(notes) and Manu Ginobili(notes) each scored 18 points to lead six Spurs in double figures.

Although they’ve had little trouble against the Hawks lately, the Spurs have had some problems on the road, losing four straight and seven of 10 away from San Antonio. They are 0-6 on the road this season against East teams that have clinched playoff spots.

The Hawks have won their last three at Philips Arena.

Atlanta (44-33) will likely be the fifth seed in the East. It is four games back of fourth-place Orlando and four games up on sixth-place Philadelphia with five to play.

The Hawks are coming off a 114-109 loss to Houston on Sunday that snapped a four-game winning streak. Joe Johnson(notes) had a team-high 25 points and Atlanta shot 53.1 percent, but the Hawks allowed the Rockets to shoot an opponent season-high 57.3 percent.

Atlanta, which yielded 83.8 points and 42.6 percent shooting over the previous four games, allowed 56 points in the paint.

“That’s way too many,” forward Josh Smith(notes) said. “We’ve got to make it more stingy. If we would have closed in some of those gaps and made them kick out to shooters, I would think it might have been a different outcome.”

While tightening their interior defense and forcing perimeter shots could have been the answer for the Hawks on Sunday, that strategy might not work against the Spurs.

San Antonio leads the league in 3-point shooting at 39.8 percent and made 15 of 29 from beyond the arc against the Suns. Jefferson hit all four of his 3-point attempts Sunday and was 5 of 6 on 3s in the first meeting with the Hawks, as the Spurs went 10 of 21 from long range.